Illuminated-lens sign.



W. M. SCARBOROUGH.

ILLUMINATED LENS SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25, 1914.

1, 1 30,201. Patented Mar.2,1915.

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WTET) @TATES PATENT @FFTQE.

WALTER M. SCARBOROUGE, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

ILLUMINATED-LENS SIG-N.

Application filed. March 25, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, l VALTER M. Sonn- BOROUGH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Lancaster, county of Lancaster, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Illuminated-Lens Signs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, which forma part of this specification.

My invention relates to that form of sign composed of a metal sheetcasing containing illuminating lamps and provided with orifices in whichare inserted glass lenses, the orifices and lenses being arranged toform outlines of letters or other characters.

Heretofore various means have been employed for insetting the lenses inthe orifices. They have been fastened in place by cement and otheradhesives; by shoulders, grooves, lugs, etc., on the lenses cooperatingwith notches, lugs, tongues, etc., at the mar gins of the orifices,sometimes associated with wire or washers arranged between the lugs andplate; by screw threads of difierent forms on the shanks of the lensescooperating with notches or slits in the margins of the orifices; and byother means. These securing means are open to various objections.

The lenses can be secured in place with difficulty and their insertionrequires the exercise of some skill and the expenditure of considerabletime; the lenses are often broken in the attempt to force them in place;the face plate is distorted where a screw thread is used; permanentlytight joints are not always secured, and the lenses sometimes work looseand drop out; and the manufacture of the face plates and lenses equippedwith the necessary securing means involves considerable expense.

The objects of my invention are to enable the face plates and lenses tobe manufactured at a minimum of expense; to enable the lenses to besecured in place with expedition and by unskilled workmen; to avoidbreakage of the lenses and distortion of the face plate; and to providea permanently tight joint so that the lenses cannot work loose or out ofposition.

I will first describe a preferred embodiment of my invention and willthen point out in the claims the essential features thereof.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front view Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1915.

Serial No. 827,082.

of a portion of a face plate with lenses in position. Fig. 2 is anenlarged rear view of one of the lenses inserted in a face plate,showing its initial position in the operation of applying it to a faceplate. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the lens in final position on aface plate. Fig. i is a view taken on the line 44iof Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is across-section on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

The face plate a of the sign is provided with orifices Z), a number ofsuch orifices being arranged to form each letter or character. Theorifices are circular ex ept that there project inwardly from theperipheral edge of each orifice two diametrically oppo-' siteprojections c, 0.

Each lens is composed of a rounded head (Z and a shank e of a maximumdiameter somewhat less than the maximum diameter of the head, therebyforming an annular should r f on the under or inner side of the headsurrounding the shank. The maximum diameter of the shank e is aboutequal to the diameter of the orifice 7) in the face plate. The shank iscut away to form two diametrically opposite recesses h, h, toaccommodate the projections c, c of the face plate. The shank is furthercut away to form grooves g, 9, adjacent to the shoulder Each groove 9 isof a depth about equal to the depth of a recess h, and extends from oneof such recesses toward, but terminates short of, the other recess. Eachgroove diminishes in width toward its closed end, as clearly shown inFig. 4.

To apply a lens to the face plate, the same is brought opposite theorifice in which it is to be secured, with the projections 0 alined withthe recesses h. The shank may thus be passed into the orifice until theshoulder f of the head d rests against the face plate. This brings theprojections c in alinement with the entrances to the respective groovesg. This position is shown in Fig. 2. The lens may then be turned (but inonly one direction), causing each projecion 0 to pass into itscorresponding groove 9, the turning movement continuing until theprojections abut against the closed ends of their respective grooves, asshown in Fig. 8. Owing to the width of the grooves g diminishing towardtheir closed'ends until they are no wider than the thickness of theprojections c, thelatter will bind tightly in the grooves when, or evenpossibly before,

7 they have reached the closed ends of the grooves, and thus the lenswill be wedged firmly in position.

A lens so fastened in place will hold with absolute security. It cannotbecome accidentally loosened, and can only be removed by turning it inthe opposite direction with a degree of force required to overcome thetight wedging engagement of the projections in their grooves. The lensmay be readily secured in place by a boy or other unskilled workman; theexpense of manufacture is slight; the face plate remains unweakened; andthere are no projections on the glass lens which might readily lendthemselves to breakage.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1 In a sign, a face plate of sheetmetal containing a substantiallycircular orifice having a projection extending inward from the marginthereof, and a lens having a head and a shank of a diameter substantially smaller than that of the head and not greater than the diameterof the orifice'in the face plate, said shank being cut away throughoutits height to form a recess'of an 1 area not less than that ofsaidprojection so as to permit the projection to enter into said recesswithout distortion, the unrecessed part of the shank provided with agroove beneath the shoulder, one end of said groove opening into saidrecess and the other end being closed, the open end ofthe groove beingof a width only sufficiently greater than the thickness of saidprojection to admit the latters free entry and the groove diminishing inWidth toward its closed end until it is at mostkno wider than thethickarea not less than that of the projection so as to permit theprojection to enter into said recess without distortion, the unrecessedpart of the shank provided with a groove opening at one end intosaidrecess and whose base and one of whose side walls substanv tiallycoincide respectively with the two cir cumferentially extending walls ofsaid recess, the other end of said groove being closed, said groovehaving plain side Walls and toward its closed end a width notgreater-than the thickness of the face plate whereby the projection onthe plate will be held within thegroove by frictional engagement betweenthe side walls thereof.

In testimony of which invention, I have I hereunto set my hand, atLancaster, on this 19th day of March, 1914. V

is WALTER M. SCARBOROUGH. Witnesses: V V

CHAs; E. Lone,- E. M. MILLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G.

